No Small Thing: School District Central Office Bureaucracies and the Implementation of New Small Autonomous Schools Initiatives

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith I. Honig
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Central Office ◽  
Autonomous Schools ◽  
Small Thing ◽  
District Central Office

Evidence-Based Decision-Making

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 860-883
Author(s):  
Bonnie M. Haecker ◽  
Forrest C. Lane ◽  
Linda R. Zientek
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School District ◽  
Central Office ◽  
School Level ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Central Office Administrators ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Rural Districts ◽  
Evidence Based Decision Making ◽  
District Central Office

Research has explored the use of evidence-based practices within schools but less is known about evidence-based decision-making among school district central office administrators. This study explored how individual and school-level characteristics of administrators were related to the implementation of evidence-based practices. Findings suggested that administrators were more knowledgeable about evidence-based practices if they were working in districts with existing policies in place to address the use of research in decision-making. Administrators were less knowledgeable about evidence-based practices in small, rural districts.

Street-Level Bureaucracy Revisited: Frontline District Central-Office Administrators as Boundary Spanners in Education Policy Implementation

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith I. Honig
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Central Office ◽  
Boundary Spanning ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Boundary Spanners ◽  
Central Office Administrators ◽  
Central Offices ◽  
Education Policy Implementation ◽  
District Central Office

The designation of district central-office administrators to operate as boundary spanners among the central office, schools, and community agencies can help with the implementation of challenging policy demands. However, educational research teaches little about central-office boundary spanners in practice. This article addresses that gap with findings from an embedded, comparative case study of boundary spanners in the implementation of collaborative education policy. The study’s conceptual framework draws on public management and sociological literature on boundary spanning and neo-institutional theories of decision making. Findings reveal that the boundary spanners in this case initially were particularly well suited to help with implementation in part because they brought non-traditional experiences to the central office. However, over time, many of the resources that aided them initially became liabilities that frustrated their work. This article documents the importance of examining boundary-spanning roles in implementation and suggests how central offices might provide supports to boundary spanners to increase their potential as levers of bureaucratic change.

Goals, Rhetoric, and (In)Equity: The Rationales Behind Decentralizing a Large, Diverse School District

2020 ◽  
pp. 004208592090891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Diem ◽  
Carrie Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School District ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Central Office ◽  
District Level ◽  
School Level ◽  
Central Office Administrators ◽  
Administrative Efficiency ◽  
Improve Student Achievement

School district decentralization typically shifts authority and resources from central office administrators at the district level to leaders at the school level. Although decentralization reforms have been prevalent in urban educational contexts for decades, they often yield poor results for low-income, minoritized communities. In this article, we examine stakeholder rationales behind decentralizing a large, diverse countywide district and the extent to which equity was part of these rationales. The findings suggest that although stakeholders aim to improve student achievement, financial and administrative efficiency, and family/community engagement through decentralization, many failed to consider how school-level disparities might result in sustaining or worsening inequities.

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